On February 26, the Ukrainian Special Forces carried out an operation to clear the front in the industrial zone of Kotlyne, near the town of Pokrovsk, in the province of Donetsk, with the aim of weakening the Russian defenses and opening gaps that allow them to complete future attacks. The mission, which has been able to continue thanks to the thermal cameras that monitor the area and describe in shows how Ukrainian troops are stealthily advance by a forest, neutralizing Russian positions and dynamiting an improvised bunker that served as a refuge for enemy troops.
Kotlyne’s front is still a critical point in the Ukrainian strategy to stop the Russian advance towards Pokrovsk. Controlling this area would not only deprive the Russian army of a key fortified position, but also allow Ukraine to restore communication lines with Udachne and stop the Russian envelope maneuver in the west of the country.
In previous operations, the Ukrainian troops had already managed to take several buildings of the industrial complex, but an uncontrolled fire has forced them to retire. After this setback, the Russians have reinforced their defenses, have fallen trenches and have established ambush positions in the surrounding forests to hinder any frontal assault of the Ukrainian army, forcing them to fight in an outdoor area well defended before reaching the industrial complex.
However, the Ukrainian forces have opted for a different tactic: instead of a large -scale front attack, a special operations unit provided with weapons with silencers have advanced positions eliminating Russian enemies one by one without alerting the other enemy units. Meanwhile, a drone equipped with thermal cameras flew over high height to provide real -time intelligence.
During the advance, the Ukrainian troops found two Russian soldiers hidden in trenches of shallow and camouflaged, designed to go unnoticed by drones, although it was not enough to avoid their elimination. Shortly after, the unit discovered an improvised bunker inside an old concrete well. Instead of risking a dangerous assault, the Ukrainians chose to launch an explosive load of 15 kilograms inside the structure, causing the collapse of the roof and the death of the six Russian soldiers that were inside.
With the insured forest line, Ukraine has cleared a crucial path for future offensive in the Kotlyne industrial zone. This blow weakens the Russian position and paves the terrain for more forceful attacks in the next few days. The battle of Pokrovsk still continues, but with this incursion, the Ukrainian armed forces have achieved a strategic advance that could completely change the course of this front.
